Nitrogen in Tyres

[glanrichbex]

Today I demanded my money back from ATS as they decided to put nitrogen in my tyres instead of air.

I asked why they decided to put nitrogen in my tyres and charge me £5 per tyre and I was told that if it was nitrogen filled then there is no oxygen in the tyre to seep out over time and reduce the pressure so I wouldn't need to check it for 3 months.

What sort of self proclaimed experts would advise you not to check your tyre pressure for 3 months? :doh

Apparently nitrogen filled tyres contain less moisture so the inside of the tyre is preserved better and doesn't suffer degrading by moisture ....... er compressed air contains less moisture than air anyway and I don't ever recall the inside of a tyre suffering as a result of prolonged exposure to moisture. In that case - what about the outside of the tyre :doh

On a test with 5th gear, nitrogen filled tyres increase pressure more with temperature than normal air thus giving unpredictable results.:doh

So given that there is 79% nitrogen in the air anyway ........ what is the purpose of nitrogen filled tyres and is it a solution looking for a problem?

 

[don simon]

what is the purpose of nitrogen filled tyres and is it a solution looking for a problem?

More moolah on the bottom line?

 

[Fez_uk]

Nitrogen is only really needed on racecars when tyres heat up and cool while racing.

 

[emjaybee]

Nitrogen is used a lot for high mileage purposes. Guy in our village runs a chauffeur service and has an Audi A8, he has nitrogen in his tyres, runs more consistently on heavy, fast, long road work. Swears by it. He does about 50,000 a year.

He also said that for any other purposes it was redundant.

 

[makeitfit]

Properly pointless on a 4x4 . Especially if you do actually go offroad or in the field, as that's when you'd air down your tyres. Then ofcourse pump them back up for road use.
ATS :doh

 

[emjaybee]

I bet they've fleeced a lot of people with that one.

You are also supposed to fit green dust caps after filling with nitrogen so that other garages are aware of it.

Did they fit green caps, and how many other "garages" actually take any notice?

 

[rustic]

Today I demanded my money back from ATS as they decided to put nitrogen in my tyres instead of air.

I asked why they decided to put nitrogen in my tyres and charge me £5 per tyre and I was told that if it was nitrogen filled then there is no oxygen in the tyre to seep out over time and reduce the pressure so I wouldn't need to check it for 3 months. ...

As the oxygen seeps out and you replace it with Nitrogen rich air, eventually the ratio of Nitrogen in the tyre will increase.

When they first fit the tyre, is it in the normal environment, if so they have air, with oxygen at 1 bar already, so as you pressurise it with 100% nitrogen, the oxygen is still in there, albeit a small percentage now.
Better to fill with nitrogen, release it all, then fill with nitrogen again to get a higher ratio of nitrogen.

Much better to fill with carbon dioxide, and take some out of the environment...lol To offset your carbon foot print...

 

[don simon]

Nitrogen is used a lot for high mileage purposes. Guy in our village runs a chauffeur service and has an Audi A8, he has nitrogen in his tyres, runs more consistently on heavy, fast, long road work. Swears by it. He does about 50,000 a year.

He also said that for any other purposes it was redundant.

Does he have lots of rules and like things just so?

 

[emjaybee]

Does he have lots of rules and like things just so?

He's got less hair !!!

Drives as fast !!!

:lol

 

[Mobieus_uk]

nothing to with moisture, simply to do with size of the molecules

'O2 "permeates" approximately 3-4 times faster than does N2
through a typical rubber, as is used in tires, primarily
because O2 has a slightly smaller effective molecular size than does N2"

in layman terms, less likely to leak as it wont fit though the very tiny holes

 

[macabethiel]

Nitrogen Inflation ?

CostCo at Derby always use Nirogen when you buy tyres off them and they come with Green coloured valve caps - all at no extra cost ! Shame they only sell Michelin & one other brand as an economy option.

As others have said only Louis Hamilton would notice the difference on a race track. On a blind tyre test on the road I am confident that no one could tell the difference !

A bit like buying premium brand tyres against less well known manufacturers the popular brands often loose out against less well known ones on a genuine blind test where the driver not only does not know the brand but does not even see the tread pattern.

 

[micktheshed]

Getting charged for it is a rip-off!
It was originally used as a promotional gimmick & to give a feel-good factor. In the normal world it's of no use whatsoever for reasons already stated.

What no-one seems to know, or care to admit, is if one tyre has 'nitrogen' & another has normal air will they increase pressure differently, due to heat, & therefore hold the road slightly differently? Hardly a safe scenario is it?

Another one for the gullible boy racers, & similar in effect to 'go faster stripes' me thinks.....

 

[perelaar]

Point of nitrogen in car tyres: charge you more.

On a performance road car, race conditions, maybe. On a 4x4, pointless.

 

[bonesXU1]

Fifth gear did a test a few years ago about this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmnZ4-EUbIk